Newcastle United strip to be Saudi Arabia green

@aycazahraakcay/Twitter

Newcastle United’s away kit for next season will be green and white, to reflect the club’s new owners from Saudi Arabia.

Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund, bought an 80 percent stake in the football club for £305 million last October.

@aycazahraakcay/Twitter

And to attract more supporters from the region the players will wear the strip in games away from St. James’ Park.

The shirt is predominantly white with a mint green crest and trim around the collar and sleeves. It is manufactured by Castore.

Newcastle United 22-23 Away Kit leaked pic.twitter.com/Ts8wJvwZ05

— Sago Kaşmeri (@ciloboci31) May 12, 2022

The design was leaked on Twitter by @aycazahraakcay.

Newcastle are famous for their traditional black and white stripes.

Despite their wealthy backers, Newcastle will be unable to spend enormous amounts in the transfer window this summer. Eddie Howe, the head coach, recruited five players during the January window, spending £94m, more than any other club in Europe.

That investment paid off as they retained their place in the Premier League. But Financial Fair Play rules mean that they will have to curb their expenditure next time around.

“The more money you spend in one window, the more it impacts your ability to then spend in windows beyond,” Howe said. “The rules are there to govern the game properly and we have to follow suit, so that does impact what we can do this summer.

“But it doesn’t mean that we’re totally without ambition. We’re well aware that we have to change the squad and we have to make improvements, but it’s going to be a difficult balance.”

Over the past decade Gulf states have seen ownership of football clubs as a vehicle to promote their business activities. As well as PIF taking on Newcastle, Saudi Arabia have interest elsewhere with Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud taking full ownership of Sheffield United, who play in the Championship, in 2019.

Manchester City, who are battling Liverpool for this season’s Premier League title, are owned by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour.

Aston Villa, who are based in Birmingham have Egyptian owners while Hull City are backed by the Turkish broadcaster and entrepreneur Acun Ilicali. Farhad Moshiri, a British-Iranian businessman, owns Everton.

And it’s not just in England where wealthy backers have invested in the sport. Paris St Germain, the French champions, were bought out by Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in 2011 through Qatar Sports Investments (QSI).